AFRL gives Barn Gang a 3-D look at Air Force's future

  • Published
  • By Robyn Mack
  • AFRL
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  A desktop printer that can produce a useable aircraft bracket?

That's exactly what members of the Barn Gang learned about during a 3-D printing presentation in July at the Engineers Club of Dayton.

Dr. Mary Kinsella, an Air Force Research Laboratory materials and manufacturing research engineer, explained how the Air Force is studying the use of 3-D printing, or additive manufacturing, to make a three-dimensional solid object that is mission-ready, during a portion of the club's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programming.

According to Kinsella, 3-D printing is an ideal representation of STEM.

"There's science involved in the materials that are processed; there's technology involved in the processes and machines; there's engineering involved in part design and creation, and there's math involved in all of what I just mentioned.

"Three-D printing has many applications," she continued. "It's for industrial as well as home use. It enables creativity. And, it's new and exciting and opens up a new way of thinking."

Engineers Club board member Roland Watts said that by soliciting engaging topics and speakers for their weekly program, the Barn Gang can in turn help stimulate students' interests toward STEM-related careers by providing knowledge of new technologies. The students are encouraged by the stories of how these technologies have evolved from the days of the Wright brothers.

During the event, Kinsella explained how the Air Force is applying 3-D printing technology in a variety of ways. Currently, additive manufacturing is used for design iteration, prototyping, tooling and fixtures, and for some noncritical parts.

"In the future we hope to use additive manufacturing more for building actual aerospace parts, but we have to learn how to qualify and certify them first," the senior engineer explained. "Additive manufacturing can build more complex geometries and locate materials and properties where you need them.

"So we will be using it to build parts that can't be built any other way," Kinsella said. "Right now there are ducts, clips and brackets built with additive manufacturing that are flying on airplanes. Soon we should have parts like fuel nozzles and heat exchangers. Satellite and rocket engine parts may be next; then, in the far term, maybe some aircraft structural pieces or peripheral components for engines."

Through hands-on experiences, Barn Gang members can share the basic science and engineering principles behind the latest technologies, Watts said. Engagements like this help us expose students to new possibilities.

"Ideas take off when these exposures spark interests of the students," he said.

Additive manufacturing is done by placing successive layers of material down in a variety of shapes. The design is created and inputted to the printer - many the size of traditional desktops - after being generated on a computer.

"The file is saved in a format that the machine recognizes and that can 'slice' the part into layers," Kinsella said. "The file is translated into a code that tells the machine how to build the part layer by layer. Then the file is transferred to the machine, which will then build the part layer by layer."

Outside the Air Force, 3-D printing technology is being used as a successful alternative in industries like construction, automotive, medical and dental, biotech, fashion, education and food.